Can Bernie Win?

I’m not a political pundit. I’m not a Beltway insider. I watch television occasionally, otherwise I’m dependent on public radio, the internet and a few headlines here or there to inform me what’s going on in the news. So this isn’t going to be a learned article on a current political phenomenon. I’m simply observing and reporting. And I’m thinking tonight of another phenom of a few years ago, coming from the right this time, who’s name was H. Ross Perot.

For a few months, Ross Perot was the Bernie Saunders of his day. Here’s a crazy Texas millionaire coming out of left field, not a snowball’s chance in Hell, but who, by force of his own will, took this country by the lapels with his rousing oratory and his spot on criticisms of the Washington status quo. He looked good, if a little strange, on television and his message resonated.

1992 presidential campaign was Bush vs. Clinton. In the fall of ’91, with a year to go before the election, presidential polls showed Perot with 21% support from the electorate, 14 points behind likely Clinton and 16 points behind President Bush. By the following May, Perot was leading presidential polls in both Texas and California. The Bush and Clinton campaigns had become concerned to the point that they began attempting to downgrade Perot. Vice President Dan Quayle (remember that nitwit?) became the most senior member of the Bush administration to criticize Perot, calling him a "temperamental tycoon".

Perot had named retired Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, once awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during years of captivity as a POW during the Vietnam War, as his "interim" running mate in late March. No one knew much about him. I remember the first time I saw Stockdale on TV during a debate. It was like watching the moment the Challenger mission exploding in space. You can see it with your eyes but your brain is still saying “what the hell is this?”

It soon became obvious that he really was loony, but his choice of Vice President running mate had made the unfortunate Stockdale an object of ridicule; he became instant fodder for SNL and all the late night talk show hosts looking for an easy, or uneasy, laugh. 

Saunders doesn’t have a running mate yet, and there's still a year to go before we cast our votes. It’s possible he could peak just before the convention and be burned out, a footnote in history, but election time. But to count him out just because all the pundits and news channels have already crowned the next Queen Clinton is to do him an injustice. He’s not a flake. He’s not a brain-fried businessman with too much money and time on his hands. He’s a well-respected Senator and has been for some time. He talks sense to almost anyone who listens to him. His failing, which I believe is his biggest strength, is that he’s a dreamer. He sees things that are and asks how he can make them better. 

It’s half a year to go before we even start thinking about the summer conventions, I think Bernie is the man to watch. And I think (my opinion only) that if you think there’s even a ghost of a chance to have the kind of world he’s talking about, you will take a moment to support his campaign.